MyPE

Community Business Directory, Event Listings, News and Views from Gqeberha, Nelson Mandela Bay

Nation Building Through Sport

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Dear Editor

As South Africans hold their breath for more Olympic gold medals, politicians and analysts should take note of the positive impact sport has on nation building and national pride. Team SA has done us proud in London and we have new national heroes to feel good about.  Positive results breed positive feelings across race and creed.

In great contrast are utterances by members of the the ANC Youth League, who seem bent on the negative, only to drive our people apart. Let’s not get taken up in the negative.  Let’s celebrate the positive and continue to support our sportsmen and women, all the way through to the Para-Olympics.

Our policy-makers should take note of statements by British six–time  gold medal winner, Sir Chris Hoy, who earlier said Britain’s success on the cycling track was made possible by government investing in cycling 15 years ago. This serves as proof that there are no quick-fixes to achieve in sport. We need to invest in better facilities, sponsorships and development programmes to ensure we nurture talent. If we do this, we can achieve much more in the future.

A successful sporting nation will attract more tourists and boost our economy. Let’s ask our government to invest in the future of our sports-people so we can build our nation, our national pride and be more successful.

Regards
Pine Pienaar, MPL
DA spokesperson on Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture

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Port Elizabethan

This author is a 'catch-all' for occasional articles and letters written to MyPE. The Author of each article can be found in the signature at the bottom of each individual article.

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